Apples and Cherries and Sex
by daphnebeauty
Summary: This is the adult companion piece for Apples & Cherries. If you haven't read that story, you totally should. But I'm biased. I guess it will make sense without the rest of the story. Sex is sex.


_**This is M.**__ Obviously. If you are a youngin, stop reading. It will make me feel creepy. ShuhNON and shallowpool? I'm talking to you, specifically. I know you'll read it anyway, but this is me giving you a disapproving glare ó_ó_

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><p><span>Chapter Thirty-Eight THE SEXED UP VERSION:<span>

"You're really good at that, you know."

"What?"

"Kissing. You're_ really_ good at kissing.

"Am I? Hmm."

He let the pause last as long as he could.

"Aaaand…?"

"Oh. Um, I guess you're okay at it." She was fighting a smile.

"Okay? Just _okay_?" He broke into a run, dragging her behind him as they finished off the last of the distance to the cottage. Reaching the porch, he spun her into his arms as she laughed wildly. Bending his head, he kissed her the way he'd always imagined he would one day. Full on, passion-filled, back-bending, all-or-nothing.

When he pulled away, her eyes were heavy and she seemed reluctant to open them.

"Still just okay?"

"Better."

"How much better?"

"Best."

He smiled and then let her go, watching with amusement and pride as her knees faltered a bit without his support. Opening the door, he ushered her in, searching the walls for a light switch but finding none. Despite the darkness, it really wasn't all that late as they slowly walked through the foyer of the cottage to the stairs.

She hit the stairs first and climbed the first one before turning around and blocking his path. She reached for his hand that held the banister and then leaned slowly forward until her lips met his, kissing him with torturous tenderness. Her lips merely brushed his a few times. Small, light, gentle kisses that had him leaning so far forward he had to but one of his feet up on her stair before he fell.

She took a corresponding step backwards, smiling softly as she kissed him again. He brought his other hand up to her hip to try and slow her progression upward, but it was no use. She simply had to pull her head back a bit and he followed the movement up. Each step was awarded its own slow kiss until they finally reached the top where she simply turned and led him with their joined hands into the bedroom.

"I see you've already made yourself at home in here."

"There was only one bedroom. Right?"

She smiled. "Yeah."

"Which, really, is sort of silly. This place is huge. What if you had kids? Where would they sleep? I bet if they just knocked out that bathroom under the stairs they could make a nice second room and then families could—"

"Castle?"

"Yeah?"

"You're rambling." She was smiling at him with her eyebrows raised and before he knew it, she was leaning closer. Her lips met his in a perfect kiss that ended all to soon. "Don't be nervous."

"I—I'm not nervous."

"Mmhm."

She walked away to the bathroom and he watched as she loaded up her toothbrush with paste and started to brush her teeth.

"You gonna get ready too?" She asked after she spit into the sink. He realized he'd just been standing there watching her.

"Yeah." He pulled his toothbrush out of his bag (which was blessedly more full of necessary items than it had been last time) and made his way to the bathroom to brush alongside her. The bathroom connected to the balcony and he could see the silhouette of what looked like a hot tub.

"Wow. This place is kind of cool."

"It's nice. Wish I was here for vacation and not Tyson."

"Right." He'd forgotten Tyson. Kissing Kate could do that to a person. "Well maybe we could come back another time. You know…when he's gone."

"Maybe."

He brushed while she removed her makeup and washed her face. He watched the whole process in awe and handed her a nice fluffy towel when she was done.

"Thanks."

"Ready for bed?"

"Yeah. Just need to change…"

"Right. Me too. I can change in here and you can have the bedroom if you give me a chance to grab my clothes."

"Okay."

They walked out of the bathroom and he dug around in his bag for one of the soft tees he used for sleeping. Pulling it and a pair of boxers out he turned around to find her right behind him, with a very, _very_ dangerous gleam in her eye.

Grabbing the shirt and boxers from his frozen hands, she tossed them on the bed without turning from him. Running a hand up and down his button up, she pursed her lips.

"I miss the flannel."

"Okay. Only flannel from now on. Done."

She pulled her other hand up and then undid the first of his buttons. She moved slowly to the second, watching her work with careful eyes. His heart had to be beating completely out of his chest. He could actually see each thump shake the fabric of his shirt. She was on the fifth button when she dipped her head sideways and kissed the hollow between his clavicles, not stopping the open mouth kiss there until all seven buttons were gone.

She parted the shirt with her hands and stroked them over his chest to his shoulders until it fell back, catching at his wrists. She didn't try and force it over them, instead drawing her attention back to his broad chest. He took over the sleeves and wiggled his hands out of them, wincing slightly as it rubbed at his rope burn.

She had pulled back to run her fingers lightly across his chest. He didn't realize what she was doing until he felt a slight twinge of pain. She was tracing the red slash across his chest. She bent forward to let her lips follow the trail of her fingers. Her lips touched his skin all the way from his shoulder down through the valley of his chest and around to his waist. She kneeled on the floor to reach the very end of the gash.

"How did you get it? I never asked."

"Tyson. He got me in the theatre with a bit of glass. It doesn't hurt."

He pulled up on the hand that was resting on his abdomen until she rose to eye level with him again.

"You are much braver than people give you credit for."

"It's not bravery if you have to do it."

She leaned in to kiss him softly and he kissed her back.

"You didn't_ have_ to do anything."

"Yes I did. Losing you wasn't an option."

She didn't seem to have anything to say to that, so he simply pulled her lips back to him and continued the sentiment through a kiss. He had his hands under her shirt, skimming along her impossibly smooth skin, and he pulled her shirt over her head in one fluid motion. It made her hair stick up slightly with static electricity and he ran his hands over the soft brown curls to soothe them. It was too tangled from the wind to run his fingers through like he wanted, but he bunched a fistful to keep her lips in place against his own.

He walked her back towards the bed and when her legs hit the edge, he pulled away, quickly turning down the comforter and sheets. She sat on the freshly exposed bed and ran her hands up his stomach and past his chest, to wrap around his neck, pulling him down onto the bed and into a kiss once again.

The lower halves of their bodies were hanging off the edge of the bed and Castle had both of his feet planted firmly on the floor. Using the leverage it afforded him, he rocked his hips into hers and watched as she let her head drop back and released a gust of breath in surprise.

Kneeling to the floor, he slipped the metal button of her jeans free and pulled on the zipper. Grabbing onto the still-rolled hems, he tugged and they slid down her hips a few inches. She tended to wear deliciously tight jeans and these seemed to have taken hold of her underwear. Not wanting to unwrap her quite so quickly, he snagged the lace top of them between his teeth to hold them in place as he pulled the jeans the rest of the way off.

She'd lifted her hips to help shuck off her pants and her breath was coming fast. Everything was going fast. She sat up again, pulling up at his neck to get him to stand in front of her again as she placed both hands on the waist of his pants. Letting her fingers curl in and brush against the sensitive skin there, she gave it a little tug before moving to unbutton the fly. He pushed them down as soon as all the buttons had popped and they came off easily, leaving him in black boxers.

"What do they say about black underwear, Castle? I'm sure you know." She was smiling at him and she was gorgeous. He didn't even care if she was teasing.

"Got a problem, Detective?"

"Not a detective, and no. They're actually kind of sexy."

"Kind of?"

She leaned forward and nipped at the crisp white elastic that held them to him and wrapped her hands around to the back, giving him a squeeze.

"A little more than kind of."

He placed one hand on her shoulder and a knee beside her, leaning forward and pushing her back down onto the bed. She crept backward on her elbows until her entire body was on the bed. He hovered over her, watching the rapid rise and fall of her flushed chest.

He was overcome with the realization that it was Kate Beckett underneath him, knee raised, hands rising to his chest. The whirlwind of the past few minutes screeched to a halt in his mind and he forced himself to take a deep, calming breath.

_Kate Beckett. Kate Beckett. Don't rush it. Savor._

She was going for the waist of his boxers again and he smoothly backed out of reach, giving her a taunting smile. She dropped her hand, giving him a look, but let him play his little game.

"I need more room. Lie thataway." He motioned with his arm to get her to lie on the bed properly instead of cutting it shortways.

"You could have had an entire beach of room for this," she mumbled teasingly as she followed his command.

"Right. What was I thinking?"

He took her foot in his hand and brushed a few fingers across the top, sand sprinkling to the bed.

"Castle! You're going to sleep on this side if you keep it up."

He paid no attention to her, placing a kiss to her ankle instead.

"I like your ankles."

He ran his hand up her smooth calf, pressing a kiss there and humming into her white skin. He rested her leg over his shoulder so that he could slide his hand further up her leg, holding her hip with his other. He kissed his way up her thigh, using that hand at her hip to keep her body flat on the bed instead of arching toward him like it was trying to do.

"Castle…" His name fell off her lips and he couldn't quite tell if she was just saying it to say it or if she was asking him for more.

Stroking the hand at her hip over her stomach, he let his mouth come to the line where her exposed skin ended and the fabric of her underwear began. He placed a kiss right at that tantalizing boundary and then used his lips and tongue to lift the edge up, his heart racing in excitement.

The hand moving over the soft flat skin of her stomach lowered and he pulled down her panties lifting his head away only as much as necessary before returning it to the irresistible smoothness of her skin there. It was incomprehensibly soft.

He placed a kiss against her and the let his tongue dart out to finally taste the scent that had had been driving him crazy. She was sweet and he couldn't help but take another taste, letting his tongue run the length of her.

Her hand shot to his head and she filled the spaces of her fingers with a desperate handful of his hair.

"Oh my god."

He hummed into her, before resuming his attentions at the most sensitive part of her. Alternating pressure and tempo, he built her up simply to leave her frustrated and clenching her fists in his hair.

"Castle, please."

He smiled and crawled over her body, leaving her leg draped over his shoulder. He kissed his way up, enjoying the taste of the slight sheen of sweat that had appeared on her body. She was breathing hard and when he reached her chest, he was simultaneously disappointed to find her bra still on and excited that he still had something to unwrap.

She let the leg over his shoulder fall to the side before she used her arm to suddenly knock into his elbow. Before he knew it, he was lying on his back and Kate was rolling on top of him, pressing the entire length of her body into his. His smile was huge as he watched her slide her way up his body until her face hovered over his.

The entirety of her hair hung over one shoulder and the ends tickled his face and neck as it curtained one side of them. She leaned in to let her lips brush against his.

"That was mean."

"Mean? Seemed like you enjoyed it."

"You're a tease."

"Call it payback."

Her eyes narrowed, but she couldn't fight the smile that was peeking through her lips, just waiting to be kissed. She brought her lips to his in an open mouthed kiss. It was hot. Castle groaned and grabbed her hips to grind her against him. She spread her legs to either side of him and rolled against him. He could feel the absolute heat of her through the soft silk of his boxers and he flexed his hips into her, feeling the dampness soak through.

He squeezed his eyes shut at the sensation and when he opened them again, she was sitting on him fully with one hand behind her back. She gave him one of those sexy smiles he'd only ever seen her use to tease him, and then watched as the fabric of her bra gave way and then slid down her arms. His hands were frozen on her hips and his eyes were trying to simultaneously zoom out so he could see her all at once and zoom in so he could focus on every detail.

She bent forward and caught his gaping mouth in a kiss that he unconsciously returned. She sighed into him and it seemed to breathe a bit of sense back to his brain. One hand dove into her hair and the other wrapped tightly around her back, he deepened the kiss and let his tongue stroke hers as he smoothly flipped her over onto her back again.

She laughed a single surprised note and he caught it with his lips, returning it with a smile. Her hand ran down his back and gripped the waistband of his boxers, tugging them as far down as she could. He helped her pull them all the way off and then resettled between her long legs.

He ran one hand from her ankle to her hip, up her side and then over her breast, pausing there for only a second before he let it rest on the side of her face.

"I love you, Kate."

She smiled luminously and he felt his heart grow wings and fly away. Straining her neck muscles, she raised her head and captured his lips in a beautifully soft kiss that neither could part from. She tightened her legs around him, drawing him closer so that the hard length of him was pressed right against her and he groaned into the kiss.

"Shit. Kate. I don't have a condom."

"I'm clean. Birth control."

He let his head fall to her shoulder and he breathed a laugh.

"Thank god."

He pulled back and looked into her wide, trusting eyes completely consumed by the depth of emotion he found there. His tip was pushing right at her entrance, but he was holding out with miraculous restraint. He asked the question with his eyes and she answered with a slight pressure with her hand to his back.

He pressed forward.

They both moaned at the sensation. He'd only slid about halfway in. Kate was breathing heavily against his cheek and he was fighting the urge to push in harder, all the way. He'd seen her eyes tense slightly and he knew he needed to give her just a few moments to let herself adjust to him.

"Are you okay?"

She smiled at him and used her hand to bring his lips back to hers, sighing into his mouth.

"Perfect. It's just been a while. Keep going."

He kissed her, not quite trusting her word and unwilling to hurt her.

"Castle, just do it." She tilted her hips up and he felt the heat of her slide further around him.

Pushing forward the rest of the way, he filled her, slowly closing his eyes to focus on any thought other than the feeling of her, tight and stretched around him.

"Oh my god, Kate."

He buried his head in her neck and kissed her there, withdrawing his hips slowly and then bringing them back forward. The friction of the slide and the smell of her were overwhelming his senses.

His rhythm was slow at first and he lingered at the apogee of every thrust to circle his hips and press against her clit. He savored every sigh and every moan that she released, restraining himself from rushing, aching to make every single sensation last.

His back glistened with sweat in the incandescent lamplight. A bead fell torturously slowly, traversing the muscular geography with determination. She was lifting her hips to match the rhythm he had set, but was coming at him a bit more eagerly now, speeding up unconsciously. He slid his hand down her thigh, pushing it up higher and opening her up to him even more, changing the angle and making her gasp.

"You smell like fire," she breathed against his ear before taking it between her teeth and pulling.

He pressed harder into Kate and his muscles flexed, clinging to the planes of his shoulder blades. Her hands gripped him there and clutched just as tightly as the muscle. The broad and tan expanse of his back was filled with the tension of desperation and withheld force.

She dug her nails deep into the muscles in his back and bit down on his shoulder, releasing a cry of pleasure into his skin when he pushed particularly deep.

"You smell like the ocean. Or like the wind. Can't decide."

"Shhh. Figure it out later."

Her breaths were coming more and more quickly and a delicate flush had spread across her chest. He ducked his head down to kiss her again, but they were both so breathless that they simply rested their lips against each other while they continued to build the sensations and push harder and faster into each other.

"Castle…I'm going to…I think…"

"Shhh. Figure it out later."

She laughed, but it turned into a cry of pleasure as her muscles tensed and her nails dug painfully into his back, dragging along his skin. He watched as she squeezed her eyes shut and lost himself when she clamped around him where they were joined. It was too much and he finally allowed the muscles of his back to release their reined power.

He stroked into her hard as he came and felt as she called out his name against his lips.

Slowing he let his head fall next to hers on the pillow. Her hands were running soothingly across his back, relieving the ten marks they'd scratched into his skin. He kissed her mindlessly, over and over, whatever skin he could reach, before withdrawing and collapsing to the side of her.

She immediately rolled onto her side to look at him and brushed his bangs from his face.

"That was incredible, Rick."

He laughed in agreement, but had no power for words. She kissed his lips and then let herself fall back into the clean, white pillows.

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><p><em>AN: This was far less poetic than the one in Icarus and a bit more explicit. Hopefully it wasn't skeevy and was still satisfactory. Not like…I've satisfied you, or anything. I don't really want to know about that._

_Shannon: recognize anything in here?_


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